I think Blain's probably right about wrist spinners being separate and distinct in them needing to learn to land the ball consistently and feel a freedom to experiment with variations without brutal repercussions. In fairness to the point though, in the game against the U19 Scots Wellalbidarned noted he was almost taking the piss with loop and toying with their limitations.Sodhi vs. Scotland U19 - YouTube

Don't squander the gold of your days making a shrine of cricket videos, trying to improve the hopeless failure, giving your life away to the Blockys, the Devciches and the Weerasundaras! Surrender your devout little cricketing heart to the inured agribusinessman.

On another note-has de Boorder officially taken over as Otago skipper? It was Redmond last time I checked, but given his poor form last season, it would make sense for someone else to have a go.

McCord is right arm, not super fast so I guess that'd make him fast-medium? I get those terms confused. Probably around 125-130 I'd guess. Bats right handed as well. No idea on date-of-birth though sorry.

And yeah de Boorder is the full time captain now. Redmond has scored runs in pre-season games so hopefully he'll continue that in the coming weeks.

McCord is right arm, not super fast so I guess that'd make him fast-medium? I get those terms confused. Probably around 125-130 I'd guess. Bats right handed as well. No idea on date-of-birth though sorry.

And yeah de Boorder is the full time captain now. Redmond has scored runs in pre-season games so hopefully he'll continue that in the coming weeks.

Late 120s-early/mid 130s is medium-fast, I guess. Fast-medium is for guys in the 135-140 range.

"It looks a little green at the moment and that'll depend on the weather in the week. We have all things covered. It would be unlikely, I think, that we'll go with four front-line seamers plus the two allrounders but we'll know more nearer the time."

That talking point during the long weekend was unwanted Black Caps bowler Tarun Nethula, who came across more as a front-arm medium-pacer rather than the classic behind-the-head action indicative of leg spinners.

"His action has changed and he sees that as a positive thing. He's probably got his arms higher than what he had historically but he's happy with the way it's coming out.

"I think it's something he's got to persevere with and he's happy with that. He landed it pretty well while we were training today [Monday] at lunch time," Hunt says.

Hawke's Bay senior men's coach Lincoln Doull dropped Nethula from his line-up for the Chapple Cup-winning final on Monday, opting instead for Taradale left-arm offspinner Ajaz Patel, although Patel was not required after the seamers skittled Manawatu for 90 to become one-day inter-district champions.

Patel, who has arrived here from Auckland, and left-armer Marty Kain, of Nelson, are the back-up spinners in the CD squad.

"Ajaz has done everything right since he's decided to come down to the Bay and have a shot.

"We're very pleased with him and, equally, Marty Kain's done well when we were down in Lincoln [Christchurch] recently," Hunt says, adding they are different type of bowlers but will probably play some part in the CD campaign this summer.

Former Northern Districts seamer Andrew Mathieson is the other new face in the equation.

"He's under contract so we brought him here to bowl fast.

"He's showing us a lot of good things so we've named 13, with an extra bowler, so he fits into that squad well."

Mathieson's a bit different to the others because, like Roald Badenhorst, he's a right-arm swing bowler who will be juggled with left-arm swing bowler Ben Wheeler.

"Andrew brings a different type of pace as an into-the-wicket bowler."

Former Wellington Firebird Andrew Lamb, who plays in the Horowhenua-Kapiti region, brings "a bit more experience" with his right-arm pace deliveries.

"He brings a different dimension and is very much a third seamer but bowls in the right areas and has done very well since he's been with us."

Papps and Elliott... talk about dead weight. Boam is a more talented, younger version of Elliott imo. Pollard scored some runs in the warm up to get his nose ahead of the others. There will be a bit of competition for the firebirds this season!

McCord went to my school actually, was never that quick but was a good batter. Either Medium or Medium-Fast.

We are bang to rights on being Chelsea and serving theatre-goers rather than guys who grew up to know their Reid Gate from their Dempster Gate, but is ND's niggly, small-ball mentality that much better for New Zealand cricket? Is opening with Yovich serving our cricket that much better than opening with Joe Carter? Denying Mathieson games for years you say for the sake of 'bad in the big picture, good in the small picture' guys like Aldridge and Arnel?

Wellington are a blight on NZ cricket. How many of those players are born and bred Wellingtonians? I count five. Don't win anything, don't produce anything. Seriously, why bother with them?

Reckon it has a bit to do with how wealthy and middle-class the city is. There are plenty of talented young kids playing high school cricket, but then they all go off to focus on their university careers and only a small portion stick to cricket.

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

I can think of a list of Sydney Grade posters who would contribute a better average post than Bahnz.